Heads Up: Phones Down Edition, which is a word-guessing game you might remember from The Ellen Degeneres Show, has made its way to consoles with the Phones Down Edition. The transition to the big screen, however, brings with it a mix of positives and negatives, and your enjoyment will depend on how fond you are of the original game.
The game’s premise revolves around turning away from the screen while your friends or family provide clues to help you guess the word or phrase displayed. The diversity of over 90 decks covering pop culture, movies, trivia, celebrities, animals, and more promises an entertaining experience for players of all backgrounds.
However, the transition to the PlayStation 5 version of Heads Up: Phones Down Edition is not without its challenges. Playing Heads Up on a big screen feels like a bit of a forced and unnatural adaptation, with the game seemingly thriving on the simplicity and intimacy of mobile gameplay. The appeal and low key nature of the original appears somewhat lost in translation, resulting in a less engaging experience. Obviously you also don’t have the entire TV show atmosphere to surround it, so there’s less character to help carry the game.
The PlayStation 5 version we played also features a few rough edges, including clunky controls and a less intuitive interface than you’d expect from something that’s a simple mobile game. These issues clearly suggest that the game was originally designed with a touch-and-tilt interface in mind, almost making the console build feel like an afterthought.
At the end of the day, Heads Up: Phones Down Edition, while offering a diverse range of decks and snappy presentation, fails to entirely capture the magic of the original mobile game. What doesn’t help in that sense is the game’s price point. This one has roughly the same price point as a Jackbox Party Pack – but those packs feature five games and here you only get one. And perhaps we’re being harsh – as Heads Up is actually fun to play – but it’s hard to justify the price point when this one plays as a relatively simple party game.
Heads Up: Phones Down Edition on PlayStation 5 is not a bad game, but it’s going to struggle to appeal to players because of the game’s price point and the fact that this one might just play better and be more fun without a large screen around. It’s worth a try and fun to play, but the asking price is going to be a major hurdle for what’s on offer here, making this a tough recommendation.
Score: 5.0/10
Press Play Media 